Roof denied guilty plea
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The white man accused of gunning down nine parishioners at a black church in Charleston wants to plead guilty to 33 federal charges, but his lawyer said in court Friday that he couldn't advise his client to do so until prosecutors say whether they will seek the death penalty.
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The white man accused of gunning down nine parishioners at a black church in Charleston wants to plead guilty to 33 federal charges, but his lawyer said in court Friday that he couldn't advise his client to do so until prosecutors say whether they will seek the death penalty.
During a brief arraignment in federal court, attorney David Bruck said that he couldn't counsel his client, Dylann Roof, to enter a guilty plea without knowing the government's intentions.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant then entered a not-guilty plea for Roof, 21, who faces federal charges including hate crimes, weapons violations, and obstructing the practice of religion. Appearing in court in a gray striped prison jumpsuit, his hands in shackles, Roof answered yes several times in response to the judge's questions but otherwise didn't speak.
"Mr. Roof has told us that he wishes to plead guilty," Bruck said. "Until we know whether the government will be seeking the death penalty, we are not able to advise Mr. Roof."
The federal prosecution, particularly on hate crimes, has been expected since the June 17 shootings at Emanuel A.M.E. Church. Early on, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice said they felt the case met the qualifications for a hate crime, and Roof was indicted by a federal grand jury about a month after the killings.
Roof appeared in photos waving Confederate flags and burning and desecrating U.S. flags. Federal authorities have confirmed his use of a personal manuscript in which he decried integration and used racial slurs to refer to blacks.
Because South Carolina has no state hate-crimes law, federal charges were needed to adequately address a motive that prosecutors believe was rooted in racial hate, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said during a news conference announcing Roof's federal indictment. Eighteen of the 33 charges could carry the death penalty.
Also during Friday's hearing, Marchant accepted Roof's application as an indigent defendant - meaning the state will pay for his attorneys - and formalized the appointment of Bruck and another defense lawyer, Michael O'Connell.